A day in the life : Day 421

This week, I tried the trending idea of batching similar tasks together. It’s been making the rounds again — do all emails at once, all planning at once, all small errands in one go. The promise is fewer interruptions and a calmer mind. Since my days had started feeling chopped up, I thought it was worth a try.

The first challenge showed up quickly. I underestimated how mentally tiring it is to deal with one category for too long. By the time I finished replying to emails in one stretch, I felt oddly drained, even though I hadn’t done anything difficult. It made me realize that switching tasks sometimes gives your brain a break, not the other way around.

Midweek, I adjusted. Instead of batching everything, I grouped only the low-effort tasks. That worked better. I handled small admin work together and left heavier thinking for quiet slots. One lingering work issue — a delayed response I’d been avoiding — finally got resolved simply because I wasn’t bumping into it randomly anymore.

The weather’s been warmer during the day and cooler at night, which has been messing with my energy levels. I noticed that heavier lunches made batching harder, so I switched to lighter meals and more water. That helped me stay steady without the afternoon slump.

What I took away from this trend is simple: structure helps, but too much structure becomes another kind of pressure. Productivity isn’t about forcing your day into a system. It’s about noticing where friction builds and easing it just enough.

I’ll keep a loose version of batching, not the strict kind. Like most trends, it works best when you treat it as a suggestion, not a rule.